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The Flood
The Flood is the fourth single on the second studio album, Messy Little Raindrops, by English recording artist, Cheryl Cole. It was the first single released by Cheryl to not reach the top five on the charts. Composition The Flood" was written by Priscilla Hamilton and Wayne Wilkins, who also produced the song, along with Antwoine "T-Wiz" Collins. It is a pop song, with strong hooks and synthesised strings. The song composed in the key of C major and is set in time signature of common time with a tempo of 80 beats per minute. The song has a basic sequence of C–C–G/D–Am–C/E as its chord progression. Cole's vocals range from G4-D6. The lyrical content of the song was described as "a massive, strong-laden, Christmassy tear-jerker about 'wreckage', 'drowning' and 'natural disaster love,'" while noticing the song's trip hop influences. "The Flood" received comparisons to songs by singer-songwriter Natalie Imbruglia. Critical Reception The song received a positive review from Digital Spy reviewer Nick Levine who gave the song four out of five stars. He wrote, "Cole's no Leona of course, but she more than holds her own vocally as she delivers an extended and just-slightly-strained love-as-h20 metaphor." Adrian Thrills of the Daily Mail noted that it "builds from an acoustic introduction into a beguiling, trip-hop ballad that is perfectly suited to Cole’s plaintive voice." Critics questioned Cole's effectiveness as a balladeer. The Guardian's Maddy Costa criticized the song's "lacklustre quality exacerbated by Cole's weakness as a balladeer and her (understandable) difficulty injecting feeling into a love song." Tom Hocknell of BBC Music wrote, Cole "loses focus with The Flood, stretching a shipwreck analogy over an uncomfortable four minutes." Luke Turner of NME gave the song a negative review comparing it to "a flood of stool." Chart Performance On the week of November 13, 2010, "The Flood" debuted at number eighty-one in the United Kingdom. However, the song peaked at number eighteen six weeks later, making it the highest chart position for the single, and also the first song by Cole not to reach the top five in the UK. It became her first single to chart outside the top 10, and only the second in her entire career, the first being "Untouchable" two years before with Girls Aloud. The song also peaked at number twenty-six in Ireland. Music Video Before the release of the album, a preview of "The Flood" was first premiered through Cole's official website. Later, the music video for the song, directed by Sophie Muller, premiered on November 24, 2010, three weeks after the album's release. It was filmed against a backdrop of white cliffs on England's south coast. The music video portrays a lonely Cole in intercalate scenes as she struggles to adjust to life without her love, including in a remote house overlooking a stormy ocean, sitting beside a bonfire, walking along a beach in stormy weather, tossing and turning in bed and in an underwater room. Live Performances "The Flood" was performed at the 82nd annual Royal Variety Performance, held at the London Palladium theatre with Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall in attendance. She wore a gown from Roberto Cavalli's spring 2011 collection with jewelry by David Morris. Cole also performed on the 20 December 2010 episode of Alan Carr: Chatty Man, singing "The Flood" and an acoustic version of "Promise This". Category:Solo Singles Category:Messy Little Raindrops Category:Cheryl Cole